Rachel Ticotinis an American actress who has been performing since 1978 and has had major roles in classic science fiction films and modern police procedurals. Born on June 04, 2025, in the Bronx, New York, Ticotin, who is half Puerto Rican on her mother’s side, began her acting career as a dancer in the filmKing of the Gypsies. Only a few years later, Ticotin ended up with a starring role in the police dramaFort Apache, The Bronx, a movie that would inform many of her future police and law enforcement performances.
Since then,there have only been a handful of years when Rachel Ticotin has not performedin either a TV show or a movie. Though she is not always in the main cast, even her smaller roles tend to have at least one important moment as memorable as anything else in the movie or episode. She has the capacity to completely own a sequence and leave a mark with only a few lines. One ofthe best Puerto Rican actorsworking, Ticotin has appeared in franchise TV shows, cult movies, and everything from groundbreaking series to beloved adaptations.
Oharais a late'80s police procedural TV showthat stars an unconventional LA-based Japanese-American police officer, Lt. Ohara (Pat Morita). Instead, of fighting crime with guns and violence, Ohara focuses on meditation and the occasional exhibition of martial arts to solve his crimes. In season 2, he was paired with a more conventional partner, Lt. George Shaver (Robert Clohessy).
Also appearing in season 2 is U.S. Attorney Teresa Storm, played by Rachel Ticotin. Teresa Storm, while occasionally at odds with Ohara and his methods, also proves to be a valuable ally more than once to him and Shaver. Ticotin provides a dignity and stature to the role.Oharais notable for beingone of the first TV shows to star a Japanese-Americanlead in Morita. The series lasted only two seasons and over that time saw several story changes, including making Ohara and Shaver private investigators.
Lost
Cast
Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island’s seemingly deadly intentions.
The six-season seriesLostwas one of the most-watched TV shows ever and is often ranked among thegreatest TV series ever made. Taking place on a mysterious island after a plane crash strands a group of travelers,Lostoffers a perplexing puzzle box mystery with flashbacks and flashforwards providing new clues about the story and insights into the characters. One of these characters, Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez), has flashbacks that reveal she was a Los Angeles police officer.
Ticotin is perfect as a character who needs to be both a taciturn police officer and a loving mother who’s looking out for her daughter.
Her superior in the precinct is Teresa Cortez (Rachel Ticotin), who also happens to be her mother. After Ana is shot in the line of duty and loses her baby, Teresa struggles with the decision to let her daughter back on the force but eventually relents to her wishes. Ticotin is perfect as a character who needs to be both a taciturn police officer and a loving mother who’s looking out for her daughter. Her call to Ana when her daughter wants to come home is as moving as it is tragic considering what comes next when Ana boards Oceanic Flight 815.
Falling Down
Falling Down, directed by Joel Schumacher, follows an ordinary man played by Michael Douglas, who becomes increasingly frustrated with societal flaws. As his day unfolds, his escalating anger leads him down a path of psychotic and violent outbursts, challenging the boundaries of order and chaos in Los Angeles.
Falling Downis a 1993 psychological thriller by Joel Schumacher, starring Michael Douglas as William Foster, a divorced and unemployed defense engineer who treks across LA to reach his daughter’s birthday party in time. On his way, he encounters increasingly provocative and dangerous events that force him to contend with his own thoughts on life, poverty, and commercialism. Rachel Ticotin plays Detective Sandra Torres, an officer who ends up tracking down Foster and gets a mortal gunshot wound in return.
Falling Downhas undergone several critical reevaluations over the years, with audiences and reviewers noting how well Foster’s descent from sadness into madness is portrayed on screen. Ticotin is in her comfort zone as a police officer, and she plays the character with an intelligence to match Foster’s wiliness. While she’s no hero, Ticotin is charming enough that it’s a shock when she dies.
InAmerican Family, the first broadcast TV series featuring a predominantly Latino cast, Edward James Olmos plays Jess Gonzalez, a cranky war veteran and barber who has to look out for his five adult children. He and his wife Berta (Sônia Braga) are constantly on the lookout for a better life for their family and much ofAmerican Familydeals with the struggles with upward mobility many Latinos have in American society.
Rachel Ticotin co-stars as Vangie Gonzalez Taylor, one of Jess' daughters who works as a clothing designer. Vangie is an intelligent and headstrong young woman who puts her creativity and business mind to good use as a clothing designer.American Familywas the first original primetime American episodic drama to appear on PBS in decades.The show made waves by centering the Iraq Warat a time when most were completely avoiding the topic.
All eight episodes ofSkinwere filmed in 2003, but only three ever aired on Fox before the series was canceled. Then, in 2005, SOAPnet acquired the rights to the miniseries and aired the remaining five episodes of the show. It’s a shameSkinhas such a fractured release schedule because the modern retelling ofRomeo and Julietis afascinating adaption of Shakespeare’s playthat actually manages to add some new ideas and nuances to the age-old story.
A powerful judge, Laura could easily be wholly the villain or a complete hero, but Ticotin’s complex performance makes her feel like a real person with dark and light sides.
Rachel Ticotin co-stars as Laura Roam, Adam’s (D.J. Cotrona) mother. As Adam is the stand-in for Romeo, Laura is essentially the matriarch of the Capulet family, Lady Capulet. Unlike the characters in the play, the parents are painted in much more complex and gray strokes. A powerful judge, Laura could easily be wholly the villain or a complete hero, but Ticotin’s complex performance makes her feel like a real person with dark and light sides.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a 2005 film about four teenage friends—Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen—who share a pair of jeans that fits each of them perfectly despite their different body types. As they embark on separate summer adventures, the pants become a symbol of their enduring friendship and support. Starring Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel, the film explores themes of growing up and personal discovery.
Based on the novels by Ann Brashares,The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsfrom 2005 andThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2from 2008 are coming-of-age comedy dramas that follow a group of four friends who stay connected across distances by passing around a magical pair of jeans. Rachel Ticotin plays Carmen’s (America Ferrera) mother, one of the four main storylines of both films. In each film, Carmen leans on her mother for at least one pivotal moment.
Carmen’s mother goes unnamed in both films.
Her mother is a powerful and loving figure and Ticotin gives her all the necessary warmth and wisdom that could be wanted in a part like this. The four young women in the movies are all still going through the growing pains of life, so a character like the one played by Ticotin is crucial to providing a mature counterbalance that the girls can look to for help and advice.
Con Air
Con-Air is a 1990s action crime-thriller starring Nicholas Cage as former U.S. Ranger turned to convict Cameron Poe. Poe, in an act of self-defense and passion, is court-martialed for accidentally killing the man he protected his wife from. Having served his time and achieving Parole, Poe is on his way home with one problem - the transport plane he’s on has been hijacked by several dangerous convicts, led by one of the worst in the United States.
Since coming out in 1997,Con Airhas become acult favorite of action moviesand Nicolas Cage fans alike. The film centers on a prison break that occurs onboard a prisoner transport aircraft while it’s in the air. Cameron Poe (Cage) is a former Army Ranger who works with the authorities to regain control of the plane after the men onboard take over. Rachel Ticotin plays Sally Bishop, the only female corrections officer on the plane.
Johnny 23 (Danny Trejo) is a serial rapist who attacks Sally, but Poe comes to her defense and saves her. Together, they make their way through the plane trying to land it safely.Ticotin has to play terrified and in control in quick successionwhen her character is nearly assaulted. She may be frightened, but Ticotin’s steely look makes it clear that she has the confidence and know-how to survive the plane ride.
3Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)
Isabella
Only Rachel Ticotin’s second professional acting role,Fort Apache, The Bronxis a crime drama starring Paul Newman as Murphy, a sad, lonely, veteran police officer in the Bronx. When Murphy meets Isabella (Ticotin), his life takes a turn for the better as they begin a romance. When a new aggressive police captain arrives on the scene, the tenuous peace of the neighborhood threatens to topple over and send Murphy back over the edge.
As a recovering drug user, Isabella’s role is a difficult one that many actors would struggle to take on with enough empathy.
It’s a hard-boiled police film, and it inspired the long-running police dramaHill Street Blues. Ticotin’s early career turn as the love interest nurse is completely endearing. As a recovering drug user, Isabella’s role is a difficult one that many actors would struggle to take on with enough empathy. Even after Isabella returns to using heroin, Ticotin plays her with a deep well of emotion that makes her decisions tragic, yet completely understandable.
Total Recall
Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”, Total Recall tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a construction worker who receives an implanted memory of an adventure in humanity’s colony on Mars. Quaid finds his memories playing out in real time, hunted by agents of a mysterious organization as he works to topple the tyrannical regime of a Martian dictator (Ronny Cox).
Rachel Ticotin co-stars alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the science fiction classic,Total Recall. In the film, Ticotin plays Melina, a Martian freedom fighter who Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) meets (or thinks he meets) when he regains memories of a fantastical adventure he was a part of on the Red Planet.Total Recallis often ranked among the best science-fictionmovies ever and was even remade in 2012.
Melina is a powerful and enigmatic woman who immediately recognizes Quaid as Hauser and believes he is still working for Cohaagen (Ronny Cox). At first enemies, Melina quickly becomes an ally of Quaid’s, and they end the film in a romantic relationship. Ticotin should be considered among the best science fiction action heroines. Her martial arts prowess is as believable as her chemistry with Schwarzenegger, andit’s this early role that set her up for so much success later.
Lieutenant Arleen Gonzalez (21 Episodes, 2010-2011)
Law & Order: LAis the fifth series in Dick Wolf’sLaw & Orderfranchiseand takes place primarily in Los Angeles, California. The show was canceled after only one season, but it had an all-star cast including Alfred Molina, Corey Stoll, Terrence Howard, Regina Hall, and Skeet Ulrich. Ticotin had a starring role as Lieutenant Arleen Gonzalez, a commanding officer of the LAPD. Gonzalez is a cool and calm professional who prefers to keep her professional and private lives separate.
She comes out as a lesbian later in season one, in a pivotal moment of LGBTQ+ representation on the show. Ticotin is commanding in her role as the head of the department, but she isn’t one note. There are plenty of moments of humanity that come from Gonzalez, and it’sRachel Ticotin’s thoughtful performance that ensures the character’s tears never seem phony, or her anger overwrought.
